title: Penetration profile and human cadaver skin distribution of finasteride from vesicular nanocarriers.
abstract: The skin accumulation of therapeutic agents affects the efficiency of topical drug delivery. In this study, in vitro distribution of finasteride of ethosomes and liposomes in human cadaver skin after percutaneous delivery were investigated. Experiments were performed using modified Franz diffusion cells. Finasteride ethosomes, liposomes or hydroethanolic solutions were used as donor medium. Drug distribution at different skin layers and depths were studied by hotplate separation and frozen horizontal slicing technique. The result showed that the accumulation of finasteride in skin ranged from 9.7-24.3 μg/cm2at 12 or 24 hours. The ethosomes demonstrated better enhancing ability to deliver finasteride into the dermis layer than liposomes did. The finasteride concentration in the dermis layer from ethosomes was more than sevenfold higher than from liposomes. The finasteride accumulation in ethosomes group showed a distinctive reversed distribution profile. This distinctive reversed distribution profile is meaningful for exerting a favorable pharmacological effect for finasteride. The drug distribution profile in skin layers showed no significant difference between 12 and 24 hours application (p > 0.05). The study demonstrated that finasteride can be accumulated at target site more effectively and maintained at higher level through the application of novel ethosomal carriers.
authors.affiliation: a The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine , Zhejiang University , China .|b College of Pharmaceutical Sciences , Zhejiang University , China .
authors.forename: Yuefeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: c Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine , Zhejiang University , China .
authors.forename: Feiyue
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: a The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine , Zhejiang University , China .
authors.forename: Xingguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: d Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica , Chinese Academy of Sciences , China.
authors.forename: Huiyuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: a The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine , Zhejiang University , China .|b College of Pharmaceutical Sciences , Zhejiang University , China .
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: a The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine , Zhejiang University , China .
authors.forename: Xiaoyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
keywords: Drug delivery; ethosomes; finasteride; human cadaver skin; in vitro percutaneous permeation; liposomes; skin distribution